Prioritize Issues for Advocacy

According to the National Association of County and City Health Officials, the following questions are frequently used as criteria that should be considered in determining priorities for community health improvement. They can similarly be applied to prioritizing issues for food system advocacy.

Size: How many people are affected by the issue? It is important to take into account variance from benchmark data and targets.

Seriousness: To what degree does this problem affect food, farming and health?

Trends: Is the problem getting better or worse in the community over time?

Equity: What is the degree to which specific groups are affected by a problem?

Intervention: Are there any existing examples of policy change that has proven to be effective in addressing the problem?

Feasibility: What is the ability of the food council to reasonably combat the problem given the available resources? The can depend on the amount of knowledge (influence) that your food council has on the issue and the relationships that the council has or does not have with decision makers.

Value: What is the importance of the problem to the community?

Consequences of Inaction: What are the risks associated with exacerbation of the problem if it is not addressed at the earliest opportunity?

Fill out this ranking form as a group to prioritize each of the issues that your council is considering for advocacy. Rank each issue in order from the highest to lowest score and choose the top issues for your group to make strategic advocacy plans.